"Cold Con: Investigating Falsified History" Documentary

“Cold Con: Investigating Falsified History” Documentary 
 CT House Histories will host a screening and slideshow presentation with filmmaker Robert Kalm at The Fairfield Museum and History Center on Wednesday, May 14, 2014, at 7PM. Kalm’s documentary Self Made: The American Dreams of Philip Musica investigates the biggest single fraud of the twentieth century, which culminated in Fairfield 75 years ago. The lecture and fundraising event is part of Fairfield’s 375th Anniversary Celebration. Doctor Frank Donald Coster was a respected name in depression era America. He was CEO of pharmaceutical giant McKesson & Robbins, a Republican prospect for the 1940 presidential ticket, and host to Wall Street tycoons on the largest yacht on Long Island Sound. On the morning of December 16, 1938, federal agents arrived at Coster’s estate at 400 Mill Plain Road in Fairfield to arrest him on multiple charges, but Coster shot himself in an upstairs bathroom.There was no equal to the McKesson & Robbins fraud in imagination or international scope until the Enron and Madoff scandals of the early twenty-first century. Unlike those recent white-collar crimes, McKesson’s was only a chapter in the much larger mystery of Doctor Frank Donald Coster aka Detective William Johnson aka convict Philip Musica. The complete, untold story of Philip and the Musica family is an astounding narrative of American history. How do you trace the path of one of the most creative tricksters that ever existed? How can you trust a single primary source document, when many of them are known forgeries? Emmy-producer Robert Kalm’s grandparents were both employees and relatives-by-marriage of Frank Donald Coster. Attendees will get a preview of the large collection of never-before-seen Musica artifacts gathered for the film, from family photos to McKesson’s papers. Refreshments and a question and answer session will follow the presentation. The event is free and open to the public. Donations will support the ongoing production of the documentary, filming additional interviews and researching image archives. For more information, or to make a tax-deductible contribution online, visit the documentary website at whoismusica.com.
Robert KalmProducerHeadless Media, LLCheadlessmedia@gmail.comwhoismusica.com
Melanie Beal MarksPrincipal Researcher CT House Histories, LLCCthousehistories.comcthousehistories@aol.com